EDF Starts Poland’s First 50-MW Grid Battery, Larger Projects Ahead

• EDF Renewables breaks ground on a 50-MW BESS in Opole—Poland’s first high-capacity grid battery—and lines up 120-MW and 200-MW follow-ups for 2027-28.

EDF Renewables has begun building a 50-MW battery energy storage system (BESS) in the Opole region of south-west Poland, marking the country’s first grid-scale storage project of this size. The lithium-ion plant will be wired directly to the national transmission network and is scheduled to enter service in the fourth quarter of 2025. 

The installation will hold enough energy to stabilise the grid for several hours at a time—soaking up inexpensive renewable power during oversupply periods and discharging it when demand or prices spike. By adding fast-response flexibility, the BESS should help Poland integrate ever-larger shares of wind and solar while trimming reliance on ageing coal plants. 

Although 50 MW is modest by international standards, it is a watershed for Poland’s storage market, which until now has consisted mainly of pilot-scale batteries and pumped hydro. EDF Renewables Polska says the Opole unit “paves the way” for a national fleet of batteries that can reinforce security of supply as renewables surpass a quarter of generation.

Two bigger projects are already on the developer’s drawing board: a 120-MW facility near Kobiernice slated for mid-2027 and a 200-MW system outside Turzyn that could be energised in late 2028. Together, the trio would give EDF almost 400 MW of storage capacity in Poland, adding muscle to its 1-GW pipeline of wind and solar assets. 

“Battery storage is our answer to some of the most pressing challenges of the Polish energy transition,” said Alicja Chilińska-Zawadzka, managing director of EDF Renewables Polska, at the groundbreaking ceremony. She noted that the company has been active in the country for 14 years and intends to branch into offshore wind once auctions open. 

Analysts view the move as a litmus test for Poland’s nascent storage regime, which is expected to include capacity-market top-ups and enhanced ancillary-services payments. If the Opole plant secures robust revenues, it could unlock private financing for gigawatt-scale batteries—helping Warsaw hit its 2030 goal of slashing coal’s share of the power mix below 40 %.